It’s all just a little bit of history repeating as the New England patriots take on the New York giants in Super Bowl XLVI / 46. The game will be played in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts. This stage is set for a rematch of Super Bowl XLII / 42 where the giants staged a huge 4th quarter comeback to win 17/14.

Kick off from 10.35am
Game is to be broadcast on ONE HD and ESPN

Odds:

While the rematch is the big story, both quarterbacks have their own agenda’s going into Sundays games.

Tom Brady is set to join elite company in Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana if the Patriots win. Both Bradshaw and Montana have won 4 Super Bowl rings. Brady won his 3 rings in the 2001,2003 and 2004 seasons.

The 2011 season has been a recording breaking year for Brady already. 611 pass attempts and 5235 pass yards yards are the highest in his 12 year career. Brady was been given a passer rating of 105.8 for the season, although well behind his 2007 and 2010 rating, he was ranked in third.
Drew Brees who now holds the record as the all time passing yards in a regular season was ranked second and Aaron Rodgers who took the Greenbay Packers to a 15-1 season was ranked in first.

For Eli Manning he has the chance to play on his brother Peyton Manning’s home turf. Peyton’s first and only Super Bowl success came in the 2006 season taking out Super Bowl XLI / 41. He was runner up in Super Bowl XLIII / 43 losing to New Orleans Saints.

Eli has the opportunity to overtake his brother in which he could get his second ring with another victory over the patriots.

During the 2011 regular season we saw what was the first rematch of these two teams. In round 9 the Giants traveled to Foxborough to take on the Patriots at home. With bad decisions and multiple turnovers, the game didn’t get started until the 4th quarter.

The final 3 minutes of game play showed what these champion QB’s are made of, with 21 points being scored in that time. The Patriots had a 3 point lead with 1.37 left on the game clock. Eli Manning and tight end Jake Ballard put together an impressive passing sequence to put the Giants ahead by 4 and take the win.

After this game, the Giants went on a 4 game losing streak and a post season appearance looked unlikely.

The saying ‘defense wins championships’ may not apply to this years Super Bowl as both teams were ranked very low this year (Giants 27th and Patriots 31st).

Although both teams have improved during the post season, Super Bowl XLVI appears on paper to be won in an offensive battle.

The giants impressive wide receivers Victor Cruz and Hakeems Nicks have put up big numbers during the post season, however it could be the giants ground game that gets them a victory.

Running backs Ahmed Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs have been breaking through into the secondary all season. They have also been reliable when it comes to picking up vital 3rd and 4th downs to keep the offense on the field.

It has been known for sometime now that the patriots offense put up big numbers, however this season they have taken advantage the tight end position. Many teams are only now starting to realize the importance of this. Both Rob Gronkowsi and Aaron
Hernandez have scored 24 touchdowns between them and combined for almost 2000 receiving yards. Gronkowski who is 6’6” has received for a total of 232 yards in just his two post season appearances, proving how valuable the tight end position can be to a teams success.

The post season provided many nail biting games, but when it comes to determining the strength of each conference the NFC wins hands down.

The Giants won at home against the Altanta falcons comfortably only allowing 2 points to be scored against them. The next two games were to be on the road for them taking down the Greenbay packers and a win in the NFC championship game against the San Francisco 49ers.

The patriots have had what could be suggested at the easiest run into the superbowl. Defeating the Denver Broncos at home against an injured Tim Tebow. The AFC championship game came down to poor clock management by the Balitmore Ravens and a missed field goal by Cundiff that could have sent the game into Overtime. The patriots were 3 point victors and sent Brady into his 5th Super Bowl appearance.

The hype around the Giants is that they are going into the Super Bowl with a huge amount of momentum, however the 2 week break between the NFC championship game and the Super Bowl could take that away. During the regular season the giants only just managed a 3 point victory over the winless Miami dolphins after the week 7 bye.

On the AFC side of things the patriots first victory over a team with a winning record didn’t occur until the championship round against the Baltimore ravens.

There are numerous markets for the Super Bowl as it is one of the most bet on sports in the world, with over 1 billion people tuning in to watch the game.

Both teams are notoriously known to be slow starters, so one betting market worth looking at is the total game score. Super Bowl betting markets have the total game score to be under 55 points at $1.92.

If the scenario were to play out that each team scored 3 Touchdowns and 2 Field Goals each, that would put the total game score at 54.

However due to both teams weak defense and strong offensive units, it is not a strong tip.

Our suggested bet is to stick with the QB who has gotten the job done 3 times and take the patriots at $1.73 in the head to head market